Eaglehawk Neck

The isthmus is around {{convert|400|m}} long and less than {{convert|30|m}} wide at its narrowest point. The location features rugged terrain and several unusual geological formations including the Tessellated Pavement. Clyde Island, at the northern entry to Pirates Bay, is accessible for crossings at low tide and is the site of two graves, and a rumbling blow hole that cleaves the island.

Eaglehawk Neck is a holiday destination. On the eastern side, a beach that stretches around Pirates' Bay is a popular surfing area. In summer the population rises as people return to their holiday homes.

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|File:Tessellated Pavement Sunrise Landscape.jpg

|{{center|Tessellated Pavement at sunrise}}

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|{{center|Pirates Bay and Doo Town}}

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|{{center|Hormosira growing on the Tesselated pavement at Eaglehawk Neck}}

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|{{center|Statue representing the dogline at Eaglehawk Neck}}

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Eaglehawk Neck was gazetted as a locality in 1967.{{cite web |url=https://www.placenames.tas.gov.au/#p1 |title= Eaglehawk Neck |publisher=Placenames Tasmania |access-date=4 August 2020 |at=Select “Search”, enter "319T", click “Search”, select row, map is displayed, click “Details”}} It was dual named in March 2021 to include its original name, Teralina.{{Cite web|date=2021-03-31|title=Suicide Bay, site of Cape Grim Aboriginal massacre, to be renamed |first1=Erin |last1=Cooper |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/suicide-bay-renamed-cape-grim-tasmanian-aboriginal-massacre/100041282|access-date=2021-04-01|website=ABC News |language=en-AU |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210201625/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-01/suicide-bay-renamed-cape-grim-tasmanian-aboriginal-massacre/100041282 |archive-date= Feb 10, 2022 }}

As Eaglehawk Neck forms a natural thin gateway between the peninsulas, it was used by the British as a place to stop convicts attempting to escape from Port Arthur and other penal institutions on the Tasman Peninsula. A system was developed where a line of dogs were chained to posts across the "Neck" to warn of any convicts attempting to escape.{{cite web |url=https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/local-tips/dog-line |title=Dog Line |publisher=Discover Tasmania |access-date=6 October 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006034952/https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/local-tips/dog-line |archive-date=6 October 2019 }} The Dog Line was first implemented in 1831 and was used until the closure of Port Arthur in the 1870s.

Thomas J. Lempriere, a commissary officer at Port Arthur, declared the Eaglehawk Neck as "impassable". Despite this, many attempts were made by convicts to escape from the Tasman Peninsula via Eaglehawk Neck, including Martin Cash{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |first1=L. L. |last1=Robson |first2=Russel |last2=Ward |year=1966 |title=Cash, Martin (1808–1877) |volume=1 |id2=cash-martin-1885/text2217 |access-date=8 August 2015 }} and William Bannon. The area was heavily patrolled by soldiers, and the guards' quarters still remains as a museum.

The isthmus now provides road access via the Arthur Highway to Port Arthur, part of the Australian Convict Sites, a World Heritage Site that comprises eleven remnant penal sites originally built within the British Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries on fertile Australian coastal strips. Collectively, these sites, including Port Arthur, now represent, "...the best surviving examples of large-scale penal transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts".{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1306 |title=Australian Convict Sites |work=World Heritage List |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=2 August 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100804041642/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1306 |archive-date= Aug 4, 2010 }}

The first Eagle Hawk Neck post office was open from 1875 until 1877. A post office opened on 11 January 1895 and closed in 1974.{{Cite web |work=Premier Postal History |title=Post Office List |publisher=Premier Postal Auctions |url=https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=Tas&country= |access-date=16 June 2012}}

The shores of Norfolk Bay and Eaglehawk Neck form the western boundary, while the Tasman Sea forms the eastern.{{google maps|url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Eaglehawk+Neck/@-43.0179065,147.8839511,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0xaa6d97d6b5908bd7:0x6c44103812e61cc6!8m2!3d-43.0197096!4d147.9249859 |title=Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania |access-date=4 August 2020}}

The A9 route (Arthur Highway) enters from the north and runs through to the south-west, where it exits. Route C338 (Blowhole Road / Tasmans Arch Road) starts at an intersection with A9 in the centre and runs south-east until it ends at Tasman Arch.{{cite web |url=https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Route%20Descriptions%20V3.6.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801112712/http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/Route%20Descriptions%20V3.6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-08-01 |title=Tasmanian Road Route Codes |date=May 2017 |publisher=Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water & Environment |access-date=4 August 2020 }}

{{stack|{{Commons category|Eaglehawk Neck}}{{Portal|Australia}}}}

• Clydes Island
• Geography of Tasmania

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |author1=Storey, Shirley |author2=Storey, Peter |date=1990 |title=Tasman tracks: 25 walks on the Tasman and Forestier Peninsulas |publisher=Koonya Press |isbn=0-6460-1870-1 }}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060824224755/http://walkabout.com.au/locations/TASEaglehawkNeck.shtml Eaglehawk Neck] at walkabout.com.au
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071008204224/http://www.eaglehawkneck.com/ Eaglehawk Neck]

{{South East Tasmania |state=autocollapse}}

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Category:Forestier Peninsula

Category:Localities of Tasman Council

Category:Isthmuses of Oceania